


Black Is Your Color

by werewolfsaz



Series: Darkly Delicious [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Ed is too, Goth Daryl, I just need her to be a bitch, I'm Sorry, Jock Rick, Lori Bashing, M/M, Rickyl Writers' Group, Shane Being an Asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 12:31:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5417201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werewolfsaz/pseuds/werewolfsaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But sitting on the bleachers at the side of the field while the rest of the team practised was torture. It was part of the punishment for fighting on school property, along with a week of detention.<br/>“The fuck you doing here?” a rough voice snarled behind him. Twisting, squinting against the sun, Rick frowned up at the figure glaring down at him. <br/>“Serving my sentence,” he huffed back bitterly. “What’s it matter to you?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black Is Your Color

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again everyone. So, the idea of goth Daryl worked into my brain and took root so say hello to my new series.  
> I would like to thank GJBN and taraburnett for beta'ing for me, you rock ladies  
> Comments are always nice so feel free to comment away  
> Enjoy

Well this was possibly Rick’s idea of hell. Not only had he been benched with an injured shoulder, he was also out for three games after that for the fight that caused the injury in the first place. His only consolation was that Shane and Ed were both out for just as long, both just as beaten up. 

But sitting on the bleachers at the side of the field while the rest of the team practiced was torture. It was part of the punishment for fighting on school property, along with a week of detention.  
“The fuck you doing here?” a rough voice snarled behind him. Twisting, squinting against the sun, Rick frowned up at the figure glaring down at him.   
“Serving my sentence,” he huffed back bitterly. “What’s it matter to you?”

The figure moved slightly, dropping onto one of the benches with a jingle of metal, heavy black boots landing near Rick. Now that the sun wasn’t in his eyes, Rick could see that it was Daryl Dixon, rebel, trouble maker and all around bad boy of the school. His long dark hair fell over one side of his narrow face, covering one stormy blue eye while the other glared at the curly haired intruder with his arm in a sling.  
“Yer that Grimes kid,” Daryl stated, reaching into the pocket of his black jeans and pulling out a packet of cigarettes. “You got busted for scraping with those other two football assholes.”

Realising that he’d been staring, Rick lowered his head nodding slowly. He shifted his arm in its sling, wincing slightly. Fucking Ed and his fat feet.  
“Been the talk of the school, all kinds of rumours and shit flyin' round about why you guys threw down,” Daryl mumbled around his cigarette, producing a lighter from one of his many pockets.  
“Yeah, sounds about right,” Rick sighed, eyes sliding over to where the cheerleaders were practicing. He spotted Lori straight away, stomach twisting with guilt and shame.

A cloud of smoke drifted passed his face, making the injured teen turn back to Daryl.  
“That’s bad for ya,” he muttered, eyes dropping to the glowing tip then back up to Daryl’s dark blue eye. It was ringed with black kohl making it look deeper and more intense.  
“No one makes it outta life alive,” the black clad teen shrugged. “Might as well do what I want while I can.”  
He took another drag, letting the smoke curl lazily out from between his thin lips, the sun catching his lip ring. Flushing because he was staring again, Rick glanced back at the field, eyes narrowing.  
“Sons of bitches!” he snarled suddenly.

“What’s eatin' you?” Daryl asked, disinterest clear in his tone.  
“Shane and Ed are over there. Rules are, we’re not allowed to talk to the cheerleaders but there they are, leering at them. If they so much as look at Beth I’m gonna...”  
“Get yer other shoulder dislocated and expelled?” the dark boy chuckled, blowing a hard stream of smoke passed Rick’s face. “Beth the little blonde one? The scared lookin' one?”  
“Yeah. Her family moved here a few weeks back.”  
“She yer girl or somethin'? That why you were fightin' Twiddledee and Twiddledum?”

Rick turned back to Daryl, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.  
“You a Lewis Carroll fan?” he asked, surprised.  
Daryl’s expression went flat, angry and defensive.  
“Yeah, so what? You think that I’m just some dumb redneck?”  
“No no,” Rick hurried to make up for his mistake. “I just assumed you’d like Poe or Lovecraft more. But no, Beth ain’t my girl. She’s the little sister of Glenn’s girlfriend. Me and him are tight and I like Maggie. So when I heard Shane and Ed making a bet to see which one could sleep with Beth first... I saw red.”  
Daryl’s eyes stayed on Rick for a long time, searching his face with laser precision.  
“That ain’t the whole story,” he stated flatly. “I’m friends with Glenn too. He told me that they had that poor girl cornered in the gym, were trying to force her. He told me you beat seven kinds a shit outta them.”

Rick flushed, ashamed of his rash actions. But seeing the slender, pale girl backed into a corner, tears streaking her face as Shane and Ed pawed at her, touched her hair, tugged her clothes... Hearing the things they were saying to her... Rick was a patient person, his parents often commented on it, everyone knew it took a lot to bug Rick Grimes but treating a girl like a piece of meat... He’d charged in, fists flying, vision blurred red.  
“What did you do to them?” Daryl asked, curious for the first time. The cigarette dangled from his lips as he leant forward, brushing the hair from his other eye so they could both lock on Rick with burning intensity.

“I made sure they knew I wasn’t happy,” was the bland reply he got as Rick turned his gaze back to the cheerleaders. “Fuck sake! They’re not allowed near the girls. I have to make sure they don’t hurt her.”  
Jumping to his feet, Rick began scrambling down the bleachers, cursing his shoulder and his cracked ribs.  
“Hold on there, Officer Friendly,” Daryl called, dodging in front of the injured teen. “You ain’t allowed near them either. Lori's been making sure everyone knows it too. She’s been making sure people know a lot ‘bout you.”  
“Bitch,” Rick sighed as he sat down, more tired than angry. He’d known things between them were over, it was hard not to when you were jerking off to images of hard abs and thick cocks rather than your cheerleader girlfriend. He was beginning to regret telling her that he thought he might be bisexual because it was clear she was gonna use that to hurt him however she could.

“There we agree,” Daryl said with a grin, a sharp flash of teeth that held no mirth at all. Some memory nudged Rick, trying to be fully remembered, something that involved Daryl a few years back. But it wouldn’t come to the front of his mind.   
“Seems to me you need someone to deal with those assholes,” Daryl said softly, crushing the butt of his smoke under his heel.  
“I can’t ask any of my friends, they’ll get in way too much trouble.”  
“Just as well we ain’t friends then,” Daryl snapped. “We ain’t never talked before today, don’t hang out. No reason to connect us. Now sit yer ass there and look innocent as a church full of cherubs.”  
Without another word, the black dressed teen disappeared down the bleachers and vanished into the locker room.

Rick sat under the hot Georgia sun, chewing his lip anxiously, scanning the field. He could see Shane and Ed sat far too close to the cheerleaders, could very faintly hear their voices though not their words. Why wasn’t Coach coming down on them? Surely he could hear them?  
“Gonna get a headache to go with yer fucked up shoulder, keep squintin' like that,” came Daryl’s low voice. A thin trail of smoke drifted passed Rick’s shoulder as he turned.  
“What happened? Are you alright?” he asked, eyes sweeping over the dark haired teen.

“Aww, look at you, pretending to give a shit,” Daryl spat back, shaking his head hard enough to send his hair flying. Rick saw the glittering of many earrings in his ears and briefly wondered where else he had pierced. His gaze dipped briefly to the lip ring as he wondered if Daryl’s tongue was sporting a piercing too.  
“Hey, I do give a shit,” Rick shot back angrily, dragging his eyes back to Daryl’s. “We’re doing these thangs for people we both care about so, by extension, I care about you.”  
They glared at each other for a long time, blue on blue, both faces set in stubborn lines as they fought a silent battle. Finally Daryl snorted and looked away.  
“Rick fuckin' Grimes, bleeding heart.”  
“Daryl fuckin' Dixon, secret softie,” the injured teen replied, smiling softly when the black clothed boy’s eyes shot him a dangerous look. “You can glare and snap and snarl all you like but I think you hate them and what they did just as much as I do. If you really didn’t give a shit, you’d have walked off without a backward glance.”

Daryl took a hard drag on his cigarette, almost instantly blowing the smoke out angrily. He licked his lips briefly, just a hint of pink tongue and a glint of metal that caught Rick’s eye teasingly.  
“Beth don’t deserve to be tormented by those fuckin' idiots,” Daryl huffed out quietly, not looking at Rick as he spoke. “She ain’t tough enough to brush ‘em off or tell ‘em go fuck themselves. And they ain’t gonna give up on their own.”  
That niggling memory reared again in Rick’s mind, something that involved Daryl and Shane and... Lori? Something about not being able to protect something.

“Gotta stick around til the end of practise, that’s when we find out if my plan worked,” Daryl was saying, glowering down at the field. He twisted and bent to pick something up from behind him, the bottom of his shirt riding up slightly to reveal a strip of pale skin. And, like bulb going on in his head, Rick remembered.  
“Your back!” he blurted, reaching out absentmindedly to touch Daryl. “In the 8th grade... Lori and Shane stole your clothes while you were showering...”

Daryl spun, slapping Rick’s hand away with a snarl, fist raised to strike him square in his stupid face. But what he was in those burning blue orbs wasn’t mirth or spite of even pity. He saw compassion and someone that hurt for him.  
“I was out sick that week or I woulda stopped them,” the curly haired teen murmured softly, eyes never leaving Daryl as he spoke. “Shane came to visit me after, falling all over laughing about it. I told him to get out, didn’t talk to him for the rest of the year. Never knew Lori was involved til recently. Heard about how you had to leave school in just a towel, about how everyone saw yer scars...”

“Shut up,” Daryl whispered, pleaded. He wanted to shut Rick up with his fists, to run away so he didn’t have to hear this. But he couldn’t move, held by the gentleness in those azure eyes. Standing slowly, wincing again, Rick stepped closer to Daryl, hand hovering over his shoulder briefly before landing there, rubbing a small circle.  
“I woulda stop them,” he said again. “Would have kicked Shane’s ass all over school.”  
This close, Rick could see a scar running the length of Daryl’s left brow, a thin white line that spoke of even more pain in the young man’s life.   
“I woulda given you my clothes....”  
“Shut up!” Daryl yelled, dismayed to hear his voice break slightly and to feel the burn of tears in his eyes. It had been years ago, it was done and forgotten. It couldn’t hurt him anymore...

Rick's good arm slipped round his shoulders, hugging him awkwardly for a moment. He could smell smoke and sweat and something wildly dark that seemed to be just Daryl. It was a strangely addictive scent that kept Rick close for longer than he planned.  
“I know you don’t need protecting,” he murmured. “Know yer a tough son of a bitch. But I woulda helped anyway I could.”  
God, why wouldn’t he shut up?! Daryl just needed a second to get his shit together without listening to that soft, Southern drawl that lured him in, lulled him gently into believing this could be anything more than a one day conversation. Twisting sharply, Daryl slammed his mouth to Rick’s, lip ring digging into the plushness of the star player’s lower lip. He felt a surge of smugness. This would send the fuckin' goodie two shoes running, screaming probably. The brief moment was lost, however, when Rick tilted his head slightly and began kissing back.

Daryl jerked back, eyes huge and shocked, trapped by the arm still round his shoulders.  
“The fuck, Grimes?!” he demanded, slightly breathlessly. Rick was blushing brightly, plump lips red and slick, inviting Daryl back in.  
“You started it,” he breathed back, eyes skittering over the other boy’s face before landing back on his mouth. He could taste cigarettes on his mouth and found that he wanted more of it.  
“So what queen bitch was sayin' is true, yer gay,” Daryl muttered, mouth dry suddenly. Okay, so he knew Rick was attractive, he was cynical not blind. He knew that he’d jerked off, more than once, to the thought of the football player all sweaty after a game. But this....

“I ain’t gonna be the butt of one of yer jokes,” he spat suddenly, squirming to get away. But Rick was stronger than be looked and kept the dark clothed teen pressed tight to him.  
“Ain’t joking,” Rick growled. “Ain’t never kissed another guy before but I want to kiss you again. A lot. And yes, what Lori says is true. Hard to fool around with yer girl when yer imagining someone with less up top and more between the legs.”  
A laugh surprised Daryl as it slipped passed his lips. Seemed there was more to Rick than just a pretty face.

A sudden swell of voices from the field made the pair turn, two pairs of blue eyes scanning the swarm of people.  
“We need a closer look,” Daryl smirked, taking Rick’s good hand and leading him down to the field. Rick was a little disappointed that he didn’t get to kiss Daryl again but the goth teen shot him a wink that spoke a promise louder than words. As they got to the bottom of the bleachers a Korean teen came rushing by, nearly knocking Rick and Daryl over.  
“Glenn!” the both called at the same time, grinning at each other. The boy stopped, staring at them in confusion for a second.

“Oh my god, did you guys hear? Shane and Ed covered the Coach's office in porn!”  
Rick felt his mouth hang open, stunned. But when he looked at Daryl, the dark haired boy was grinning slyly.  
“Oh no,” he said, mock surprise heavy in his tone. “How do they know it was them?”  
“Someone reported seeing them hanging around the office and they weren’t where they were meant to be on the bleachers when Coach went looking earlier.” Glenn's eyes were huge but narrowed slightly when he fully took in the look on Daryl’s face.

“Those boys weren’t in enough trouble already?” Rick asked to distract his friend for a moment. Glenn shrugged, eyes cutting back to his injured friend.  
“Rumour is they resent Coach for punishing them.”  
Rick nodded, face solemn, though he could feel a laugh bubbling inside. He could see Daryl grinning too, his face transformed by his wide smile. It made the urge to kiss him almost irresistible.  
“Well, you let me know what happens,” Rick said, nodding towards the gaggle of students and teachers. “I’m not allowed near them or the cheerleaders I better go.”  
“I know I was gonna give you a ride home but Maggie wants to check in on Beth,” Glenn hesitated, wringing his hands.  
“I'll give him a ride,” Daryl offered, shrugging. “Ain’t no trouble. If that’s okay with you, Officer Friendly?”  
Rick’s answering smile was damn near blinding, eyes sparkling with hope and promises.  
“I think I could live with that."


End file.
